According the previous SI national forest resources assessment, forest resources would be exhausted in the next decade. However, natural and plantation forests have been deforested aggressively until recently. It is urgent for SI to establish appropriate forest policies and management framework to promote and implement sustainable forest management.
A good example of Sustainable Management is setting up sawmilling operations in rural areas for local communities to engage in. This type of timber harvesting is much more sustainable for the communities compared to logging. For an average tree, a community can earn approximately 20 times more by milling it than to selling the log to a logging company.
These high profits can continue for generations if the forest is properly managed. Sawmilling and timber down processing by local communities has proven to have higher benefits than large scale logging, resulting in less environmental damage, less social unrest and the operations are more sustainable in regards to the future availability of forest resources.
SFM involves good forest management guidelines to practise good forest management, which includes activities such as land use planning, area mapping & surveying, tree selection, directional felling and replanting. Therefore, Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) generally refers to bringing the rate of extraction in line with the rate of natural growth or increment.
Stakeholders in SFM in Solomon Islands
- Ministry of Forestry
- Ministry of Environment
- Customary Landowners.......
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